Cycle routes

Cycle routes are named or numbered or otherwise signed routes, which may go along roads or dedicated cycle paths.

Rendered Cycle Maps

Just looking for bicycle maps and bike maps?

An international cycling map created from OSM data is available, provided by Andy Allan. The map rendering is still being improved, the data are updated every few days. It shows National Cycle Network cycle routes, other regional and local routes, and other cycling-specific features, such as: dedicated cycle tracks and lanes contours and hill colouring bicycle parking bike shops, toilets, drinking fountains, even pubs! proposed bike routes (or numbering protocols), contrasted with the Lonvia map, below, which does not show proposed routes, but actual routes only http://www.opencyclemap.org/

CyclOSM A free cycle-oriented map with more features than OpenCycleMap. See its wiki page CyclOSM.

Waymarked Trails: Cycling by Sarah Hoffman is a layer superimposed over mapnik (Standard Map Layer) which shows marked cycle routes around the world. Updated minutely, it renders actual routes without the state=proposed tag. Therefore no proposed routes (or proposed numbering protocols) are displayed.

Tagging Cycle Route Networks

London Cycle Network sign

Three levels of hierarchy are currently in use - national, regional, and local. Routes may be marked by tagging each way according to the following table. For an alternative using relations that will also be rendered on the cycle map, see Relations/Routes#Cycle_Routes.

It is often better to use relations to tag cycle routes rather than the tags in this table (see below for the relation tagging scheme). But please check that a relation doesn't already exist before creating one.

Tag	Element	Description
ncn=yes		Designates that a road or path is part of a National Cycling Network route.
ncn=proposed		Designates that a road or path is part of a proposed National Cycling Network route.
rcn=yes / proposed		As above, but for regional cycle routes.
lcn=yes / proposed		As above, but for local cycle routes.
ncn_ref=number		A national cycle route, where number is the route number. ncn=yes is implied
rcn_ref=number		A regional cycle route, where number is the route number. rcn=yes is implied
lcn_ref=number		A local cycle route, where number is the route number. lcn=yes is implied

route=ncn was previously used, but is currently deprecated due to clashing with other routes that may share the same way.

Tagging Cycle Node Networks

Cycle Node Networks (for example look here) are common in the Netherlands and Belgium, but not in the UK. In contrast to the standard cycle route networks, where the path has a reference number, in a cycle node network the junctions are numbered. Signs along the way indicate the junction you are heading towards, so a given path will have a sign pointing in one direction indicating "1" and in the other direction indicating "4".

We use the same tags, but apply the reference numbers to the junction nodes.

Tag	Element	Description
rcn=yes		Designates that a road or path is part of a Regional cycle node network
rcn_ref=number		Designates that the node represents a numbered junction in the regional cycle node network

The same principles can be used for national and local cycle node networks, but currently regional is in main use in the Netherlands.

Relations

It is preferred to tag the cycle routes using relations instead of tagging the ways. But please check that a relation doesn't already exist for your chosen route before creating one. (Relations are often listed on pages such as WikiProject United Kingdom National Cycle Network.)

The tags on the relation are slightly modified from the standard tags. An example cycle route relation would have the following tags:

Tag	Comment
type=route
route=bicycle
network=icn/ncn/rcn/lcn	Specify the network as an international route, a national route, a regional route, or a local route, as per the normal tagging of cycle routes
ref=number	(optional) NCN, RCN, and LCN references work best on the map if just the number is used, so for NCN 4: "4". The network tag correctly distinguishes the type, so just use "ref" and not "ncn_ref" or similar.
name=*	(optional) The name of the route e.g. Jubilee Cycle Way
state=proposed	(optional) Routes are sometimes not official routes pending some negotiation or development -- the cycle map renders these routes dotted.

Usage

Since the tagging is generic, it is up to each country to decide how to map the cycle networks that exist in their country onto the hierarchy of national/regional/local.

United Kingdom

Network	Tagging	Example
Sustrans' National Cycle Network National routes (red numbers). See WikiProject United Kingdom National Cycle Network for a list and to see if a relation has already been set up. References shouldn't be given a prefix i.e. use 54 and not N54.	Add to an existing relation or create a new relation or use ncn=*, ncn_ref=*
Sustrans' National Cycle Network Regional routes (blue numbers). See WikiProject United Kingdom National Cycle Network too for a list and to see if a relation has already been set up. References shouldn't be given a prefix i.e. use 47 and not R47.	Add to an existing relation or create a new relation or use rcn=*, rcn_ref=*	(Sign showing both national and regional spur).
LCC's London Cycle Network. See WikiProject United Kingdom London Cycle Network.	lcn=*, lcn_ref=*
Ipswich, other towns etc. local cycle networks	lcn=*, lcn_ref=*
The National Byway	network=National Byway

Austria

see: WikiProject_Austria/Radwege

Netherlands

Zie: Fietsroutes.

Belgium

See the Belgian Cycle Route Conventions for full details.

Switzerland

See Swiss Cycling Network for full details.

Germany

See Wikipedia:Radfernweg for German Radfernwege.

Moved the discussion about the abbreviations to Radfernwege since it contains already all the routes. Damian 22:54, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

France

see Fr:Cycleway

Europe

The European Cyclists' Federation have (or have proposed) 12 European routes, called EuroVelo routes, with references such as EV12 for the North Sea Cycle Route.

See the European Wikiproject EuroVelo for further details.

United States

The U.S. Bicycle Route System began to be established in the 1970s, and currently consists of two numbered routes:

• U.S. Bicycle Route 1, which runs from North Carolina to Virginia
• U.S. Bicycle Route 76, which runs from Illinois to Virginia.

See the Adventure Cycling Association for more information.

A cycleway built to move cyclists off the main roadway on urban interstates and US routes would also qualify for a NCN route relation.

Delaware, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania have their own numbered bicycle route networks. In Ohio, some counties have begun erecting numbered state route signs. [1]. Some state freeways have signs directing cyclists to an alternate route or dedicated cycleway in segments where the freeway is closed to cyclists. These state routes should use the RCN route relation.

Some cities such as Eugene and Portland have a local cycle network comprising of a grid of bicycle boulevards and dedicated cycleways. These bicycle boulevards and dedicated greenways should use an LCN route relation.

Mountainbike Routes

• See Mountainbiketours for cycle routes that are primarily for mountainbikes.
• additionally have a look at the Mountainbike portal for tagging guidelines to ways suitable for mountainbiking.

Related pages

• Cheltenham Standard - a discussion of how to tag the suitability for cycles of all-purpose roads
• amenity=bicycle_parking
• Key:reference - motor vehicle routes
• National Cycle Network mapping event
• crossing=*